Consumers have been increasingly receptive to new personal washing systems that provide a greater sense of refreshment, lead to a more pleasurable bathing and showering experience, and/or are personalized. Although toilet bars are still widely used because of their convenient form and simplicity, liquid products and more recently sheets have grown in popularity.
Consumers recognize that liquids provide excellent skin care and fragrance attributes. Further the variety of packaging, unique colors, and other visual features, especially available in the specialty trade, provide more individualistic and upscale products. However, liquids do not lather well without the use of an additional implement and without such an implement, liquids are not perceived as economical or as convenient as bars. Sheets in contrast, lather well but are generally single-usage forms and thus are primarily used in facial washing where the perceived benefits more readily justifies their higher cost.
Liquid and sheet personal washing forms have primarily been targeted to female consumers, and these forms are not so widely used by men who often prefer bars for their convenience and refreshment qualities.
Despite the growth of cosmetic products targeted to male consumers, male oriented soap bars have changed little since the introduction of so called refreshment or deodorant bars over 30 years ago many of which have a striated or variegated appearance.
Thus, there is a need for cleansing articles that have the convenience and economy of a bar but with highly differentiated sensory properties that are appealing to men. One of these differentiating properties is a dark color. Although darkly colored or black soap bars have appeared from time to time they have not enjoyed much success because of the limitations of conventional soap bar technology. In particular, darkly colored soap bars tend to discolor (turn pale or gray) in storage or use. Furthermore, the level of colorant required for high color saturation has the potential for staining and often leads to unsightly residue collecting in soap dishes or on other surfaces.
The following patents and publications form a part of the related art:
U.S. Pat. No. 4,613,446 describes plastic mesh pads and sponges impregnated with a soft paste-like cleansing composition including an alkali metal phosphate, a wetting agent, fatty acid soap, a chelating agent and surfactant. The articles are designed to be used as large size scouring pieces for cleaning tires, vinyl tops and trims, bumpers and other surfaces.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,949,137 describes a gel-impregnated sponge composed of two layers: one layer is impregnated with a hardened gel material and one layer is a non-impregnated sponge.
U.S. Pat. No. 5,221,506 describes a bar soap having a sponge core which is revealed after the soap bar is reduced to a sliver, said sponge core providing support and preventing breakage of the sliver thus reducing wastage.
U.S. Pat Application Publication No. 2003/0220212 A1 describes bar soap reinforced with a reinforcement member such as a mesh to prolong the usage of the bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,190,079 describes a scrubbing soap bar composed of vegetable oil and glycerin into which is partially imbedded a thin fine-mesh netting that serves as a feature to facilitate grasping and holding the bar.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,969,225 relates to a bathing and cleansing article in the form a scrub brush specifically made to contain or hold a bar of soap.
U.S. Pat. No. 4,190,550 describes a seamless fibrous, soap-filled pad in the form of an envelope that surrounds a solid soap, which is held in integral form by the entanglement of the fibers.
U.S. Pat Application Publication No. 2004/0033915 A1 relates to cleansing bars including a cleansing composition and a plurality of discrete elements (e.g., fibers) having a length to diameter ratio of from about 50 to 1 to about 100,000 to 1.
EP 1 266 599 A1 describes a solid cleanser holder composed of an apertured textured film surrounding a solid cleanser. The film reduces slip, exfoliates and enhances lather.
U.S. Patent Application Publication No. 2005/0113270 A1 to Stockman et al published May 26, 2005 relates to scrubbing soap bar having an embedded scrubbing element.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,6896,435 to James W. Rink issued May 24, 2005, describes a slip-resistant floating soap having two outer convex shaped layers of soap connected by a water impermeable buoyant material extending around the outer soap layers to provide slip resistance.
U.S. Pat. No. 6,893,182 to Chung Min Liao issued May 17, 2005 describes a soap device having an embedded spongy or perforated cleansing device.
The present invention seeks improvements over deficiencies in the known art. Among the one or more problems addressed include the development of a darkly colored personal cleansing article having the overall form of a bar that appeals especially to male consumers and has a lower potential for staining, messy residue, and discoloration during storage and use.